Antonio Carbone leaves the courthouse in Toronto on Monday, June 23, 2014.Darren Calabrese/The Globe and Mail
Antonio Carbone, a Canadian businessman who has been embroiled in a bitter lawsuit with philanthropist Michael DeGroote over the latter's investment in a chain of Caribbean casinos, has been jailed in the Dominican Republic on suspicion of attempted murder.
But in interviews with CBC's the fifth estate, two key witnesses in the case describe the alleged plot in ways that differ from the evidence presented in court by Dominican authorities. The CBC report, which will be broadcast on Friday and includes interviews with the alleged victim of the murder plot, raises questions about the strength of the case against Mr. Carbone.
The Jan. 26 arrest of Mr. Carbone at Punta Cana airport is the latest twist in the saga of Dream Corporation, a chain of Dominican casinos and gaming parlours that was created with loans provided by Mr. DeGroote between 2010 and 2012. A joint investigation by The Globe and Mail and CBC published in January revealed that when the owners of Dream – Mr. Carbone, 40, his brother Francesco Carbone 47, and Andrew Pajak, 62 – began feuding over control of the casinos, organized crime figures such as the late Vito Rizzuto inserted themselves into the dispute and, for a time, took control of the chain.
A lawyer for Mr. DeGroote has said in a statement that the 81-year-old billionaire was not complicit in any way in Mafia figures becoming involved with the casino company and has reiterated that his client was only a lender to Dream. Mr. DeGroote launched a lawsuit against the Carbone brothers and Mr. Pajak in 2012, alleging he was provided with false revenue reports from one of their establishments and that he has been denied access to any of Dream's other books and records. Numerous judges have sided with Mr. DeGroote in the case, including Ontario Superior Court Justice Frank Newbould, who in 2013 ruled that the trucking magnate has established "a strong case in fraud" against the trio.
The murder conspiracy allegation against Mr. Carbone dates back to Dec. 1 of last year, when a Dominican business rival reported that his luxury car, a 1999 Jaguar, had been bombed outside his apartment. The owner of the car, Fernando Baez, is a Dream executive aligned with Mr. Pajak, who has been battling the Carbone brothers in court in both Toronto and Santo Domingo since 2013 for control of the casinos. Dominican investigators say two men trailed Mr. Baez home in his car at about 2 a.m., and, in the mistaken belief he was still in the vehicle, threw an explosive device into it after it was parked, according to court records. He was already out of the car, the records state.
Dominican court filings also show prosecutors are relying on the evidence of a private investigator, Juan Infante, who told them that he saw the Carbone brothers celebrating the attack on Mr. Baez's car.
In an interview with the CBC in the Dominican Republic, Mr. Infante offered a different account than the one presented by authorities at a bail hearing for Mr. Carbone. The prosecution's summary of the case says the brothers took credit for the attack while celebrating, but Mr. Infante told CBC that when he asked the brothers if they were involved they "responded with no answer. They just look at each other."
CBC also reports that Mr. Baez gave its journalists a different version of the firebombing than he gave investigators. In his statement to a court magistrate, he said he is "alive by chance" because he usually spends a few moments in his car before getting out, but on this occasion he left the car immediately and narrowly escaped the blaze. But the fifth estate says he explained in his CBC interview that he was not driving the Jaguar that night and was inside his apartment when the vehicle exploded.
A spokesperson for the Dominican district attorney's office said in a statement that it would not comment on the investigation.
Mr. Carbone has been denied bail and is being detained in the San Pedro prison near Punta Cana, a resort area popular with Canadians and Americans. His lawyer told CBC he is skeptical that his client will be released any time soon.